Valley View Sewer To Connect To Prairie Grove System

PRAIRIE GROVE —A $1 million low-interest loan approved for the Valley View sewer system in July will be finalized and money in the bank following the closing of the loan transaction on Nov. 28, according to Jerry Kopke with Communities Unlimited.

Washington County Property Owners Improvement District #5 will use the loan from Arkansas Natural Resources Commission for engineering and design work and to obtain easements to connect to Prairie Grove’s sewer system.

The improvement district is the owner of a community sewer system that provides service to about 500 customers in Valley View Estates, Walnut Grove Acres and Meadow Sweet subdivisions.

The system was placed in receivership in April in response to a lawsuit filed by Washington County, the cities of Farmington and Prairie Grove,

Rausch Coleman Valley View and Valley View Estates Subdivision Property Owners Association.

The county’s lawsuit petitioned the court to appoint a receiver to take over the system because of the “danger of harm to the health and safety of residents in the subdivision and the danger to the environment as a whole.”

Complaints from residents about the sewer system go back to 2011 on the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality’s website, with numerous state inspections on the website showing signs that untreated wastewater had overflowed from the system’s aerator holding pond on many occasions.

Washington County Circuit Judge John Threet appointed Jerry Kopke and Communities Unlimited as receiver for the system. Threet signed the latest order on Nov. 13 to allow the improvement district to enter into an agreement with ANRC for a $1 million loan.

According to court records on the lawsuit, Communities Unlimited has borrowed $1.9 million (including the latest loan) to pay for ongoing costs with the sewer system. The first three loans were for $100,000, $450,000 and $386,250.

One of the reasons for the loans is to pay to haul sewage to Prairie Grove’s sewer plant to be treated until construction is finished to connect to Prairie Grove’s sewer system. Sewage from houses served by the system comes into a holding pond and from there has been pumped and hauled by private companies to Prairie Grove.

From Jan. 25 to Oct. 24, Prairie Grove has received 16 million gallons of sewage at a total cost of more than $99,000, according to Larry Oelrich, director of administrative services and public works.

City officials, Communities Unlimited and representatives of the improvement district are still discussing the details of a contract for sewer service. When finalized, the contract will have to be approved by both Prairie Grove City Council and the improvement district’s commissioners.

Communities Unlimited will seek another loan from the ARNC for construction costs, Kopke said. He added that engineering plans to connect to Prairie Grove should be ready in mid-December and then the receiver will seek construction bids.

Construction could start in January and should take six to nine months, engineers have told Kopke.

The original lawsuit is still pending in Circuit Court and has had multiple filings of counter claims and responses. Circuit Court has set a March 5, 2018, trial date on the complaint. Defendants in the original suit are Valley View Golf LLC, the improvement district and the former commissioners with the improvement district.